Felabrations 2015

we styled up for Felabrations 2015

Fela Anikulapo Kuti was a character of Nigeria's recent history. He passed away of AIDS in 1997. He is remembered every year in a festival called "Felabrations" organised by his children at the New Afrika Shrine among other locations.

The place is like a giant market hall, a large concrete hall topped by a corrugated iron roof set a couple of meters above the walls to leave the wind carry away the heat from the sun during the day and from humans at night. It is also a sort of ventilation for the weed smoked. Non smokers definitely have their fair share of passive smoking in the course of an evening. It is the only place where weed is tolerated by the police, and a few streets away from the Shrine, people get arrested if they carry some.

active and passive smoking

The place is popular with youngsters. On Friday night, the crowd was immense, thousands of people outside looking at the action on the stage over a giant outdoor screen set in front of the building. Probably a thousand were inside, to the extent that the white plastic chairs that crowd the floor of the hall had been swallowed by the crowd standing. The smell of weed was mixed to the smoke of meat being grilled: beef and chicken suyas, grilled fish accompanied beer and soft drinks. Ice cream was also among the things one could get from the waiters carrying them in a small tray held and the end of one arm above the crowd.

a disciple of Fela

Artists of all walks of life were invited to perform. Femi Kuti made an appearance while a disciple of Fela made a 2 hours performance with a brass band and girls dressed in the traditional outfit and make-up they used to wear while performing with Fela.

Chidinma singing nigerian classic "kedike"

Comments

Benin City, at the heart of the Benin Kingdom and its great past

Benin City's popular fashion Benin City is one of the largest cities in Nigeria. It is the capital of Edo state. It probably shines less than it used to a few centuries ago when it was a powerful and advanced kingdom, lauded for its administrative and military strengths by the first Europeans who came to trade in the 15th century. Nowadays modern Europeans hear more about Benin City because Edo's gangs export girls for prostitution and compete with the mafia in Sicily on some markets. Traces of the past are very present, for instance the Oba's palace is still surrounded by a large mud wall. The city has sprawled in all directions. Trading buildings, administration buildings are among the tallest, most of them worn out by time, dusty winters and strong rainy seasons. Large avenues are running through the city, but as soon as one leave them to adjacent roads, potholes and dirt roads slow down navigation. Easier for motorbikes. Market areas are usually buzzing with peopl...

The Ogiamien family in Benin City: about wood and history

Roland Ogiamien in his wood-carving workshop Wood Roland Ogiamien is a renown wood carver. He is now retired in his home town of Benin City and is now in his 80s. We met him in his simple workshop, a barn opened on the surrounding greenery. A part of the studio is used to store wood pieces and make sure they are well dried. He is using a collection of german ustensils to carve and polish the wood. He spent most of his career working out of Lagos before relocating to Benin. Roland was explaining that the wood he uses today is different that the one he worked on in his early days. Ebony has become rare and wood carvers have had to switch to other types of wood. Traditional heritage is a large part of his inspiration which he translates on wood with his own particular style, exploring various techniques for the finish of his pieces. Roland Ogiamien and two of his favourite masks History Ogiamien is the name of an important royal family in Benin Kingdom. Towards the end of the ...

The mysterious stones images of Esie

turned into Stones Chief J. Agbo Ooye had been waiting in the shade of a large tree, in front of the National Museum of Esie, dressed in ceremonial costume with a velvet hat incrusted with crystal beads sown in the shape of his title and his name. He was sitting next to his wife on a bench, expecting our arrival. His wife, he would tell us later, was his best friend and she was actually demonstrating it by guiding his frail body from one place to another and guiding his hand when it came to sign autographs of his books. Chief Agbo Ooye is the author of two booklets on the Esie Stones. The first one, called A Personal Account of the Esie Stones is giving an overview of the differences between the scientific and the traditional interpretation of the Esie Stones. The second one is called the History of Esie and gives a brief account of Esie's history from the early settlement of Yorubas in various groups (Esie, Oro, Eku Apa, Igbonla, Edidi, Igbesi, etc...) to the present...

Nigeria, the land of plenty

Search This Blog